Apparatus for feeding batch



y 1950 w. F. GAUNDER 2,509,390

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BATCH Filed June 5, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 wum Wo rWILBUR F GAUNDER May 30, 1950 w. F. GAUNDER APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BATCH3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 3, 1942 3mm WILPJUR F GAUNDER y 0, 1950 w.F. GAUNDER 2,509,390

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BATCH Filed June 3, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 WLBUR EGAUNDER Patented May 30, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,509,390APPARATUS FOR FEEDING BATCH I Wilbur F. Gaunder, Mount Vernon, Ohio,assignmto Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Allegheny County, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application June 3, 1942, Serial No. 445,638

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for feeding granular batch to amolten glass bath and it has particular relation to means designed tocontrol the batch in blanket form after it has been deposited upon thebath.

The invention described and claimed herein is related to the inventiondescribed in United States Patent 2,327,887 issued to H. L. Halbach etal. on August 24, 1943 for Blanket feeder for glass drawing tanks.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus offeeding two or more blanket sections of glass-making batch upon a moltenglass bath in such manner that the blanket sections can be controlled asto direction of travel along the bath.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus offorming two or more thin blanket sections of glass-making batch into acontinuous blanket controlled as to its direction of progress along thebath.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus forfeeding and controlling a plurality of blanket sections of granularbatch along a molten glass bath.

According to this invention glass-making batch is fed uniformly toprovide relatively thin blanket sections of the batch beginning at theentrance or batch-receiving end of a tank while maintaining each blanketsection substantially in thin layer form as it is moved farther into thetank and melted. The two sections are in border contact with each otherfor the purpose of insuring an over-all blanket equal substantially inarea to the combined sections.

In one form of the invention two blanket sections of batch are so fedthat one is moved along each side of a center line drawn longitudinallyof the tank in the direction of movement of the molten glass bath towardthe drawing end thereof. The rate of feeding of each section can becontrolled in order to prevent the blanket as a whole from drifting onthe bath toward either side wall of the tank. It is also possible tovary the position of the batch feeders in such manner that the batch canbe directed at slight angles to the center line of the bath. In this waythe directions of feeding of the blanket sections con verge toward thecenter line of the bath and hence the tendency of the blanket to drifttoward either side of the tank is counteracted. Each batch feeder thuscan be mounted for swivelling action about a vertical axis, and aseparately controllable variable speed motor is provided for drivingeach feeder.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary rear elevation of a batch feeding apparatus asapplied to a melting tank; Fig. 2 is a, fragmentary cross-section takensubstantially along the line 11-11 of Fig. i; Fig. 3 is a diagrammaticplan of the batch feeders and abatch melting tank; and Fig. 4 is adiagrammatic plan illustrating the general shape of combined blanketsectionsas fed upon a molten glass bath.

In racticing the invention a glass melting tank or furnace i0 isprovided with an entrance or batch-receiving extremity H (Fig. 3) whichis almost as wide as the body of the tank. Lines of division definingthe junction between the entrance extremity and the body of the tank areincluded in the offset shoulder portions or corners 13. During itsoperation the tank contains a bath of molten glass l4 which ismaintained in molten state by means of flames from suitable fuel fedthrough ports I6 in the tank side walls The tank includes a roof I9supported by the tank walls l8 or by other superstructure according towell-known methods of construction. In one form of apparatus, known as aregenerative type of tank, the flames are played over the surface of thebath alternately from opposite sides of the tank. Ordinarily tanks ofthis type are operated continuously over considerable periods and themolten bath moves toward the exit or drawing extremity of the tank fromwhich the glass is drawn in sheet form.

A rear vertical wall 20 is supported upon conventional superstructure 2|across the entrance end of the tank and is provided with a lowerhorizontal section 23 which has its lower surface so positioned as to bespaced in parallel relation a short distance from the upper surface ofthe molten bath. Suitable cooling apparatus 14 mounted upon the end wall20 is of conventional form for circulating fluid and it corresponds inprinciple of operation to that shown in a similar position in the patentabove identified. The outside or rear edge of the horizontal section 23is located forwardly of the vertical plane of the rear bath retainingwall 26 of the tank.

A platform 30 disposed adjacent the rear end wall 26 of the tank hasanchored thereon a pair of blocks 3| upon the upper side of which a pairof feeder units 34 are supported. A lower frame member 36 of the feederunit has a downwardlyprojecting stud shaft 31 which flts into a socket38 formed in the upper portion or the block II.

Each unit it is thus rotatable about a vertical axis.

A stationary frame rigidly mounted upon the platform 30 extends entirelyaround the feeder units. Upper frame structure of each unit includeshorizontal, arcuate rails 4| having flanges 43 operable in guides 45mounted upon the stationary frame 40. The axis of rotation of eachfeeder unit is the center of curvature of the rails 4I thereof. Theguide rails and the guides prevent the feeders frpm tilting andfacilitate their adjustment about their vertical axes.

A hopper is included in each feeder unit and is filled with granularglass-making batch 5I by means of buckets 53 having rollers 54 thereonfor operation upon an overhead monorail track 56. The buckets aremovable to positions directly above the hoppers and the batch can be fedto the hoppers regardless of their position of adjustment about thevertical axes of the feeders. A closure 51 is pivoted at 58 upon thelower portion of each bucket, the latter of which has a bottom opening59 through which the batch is deposited. Each closure 51 is operable bymeans of a cable 60 secured thereto and trained over a pulley BI that ismounted upon a bracket extending rigidly from the bucket at suchlocation as to place the cable conveniently for manual operation.

The two hoppers 50 as a combination extend substantially across thefeeding end of the tank and the granular batch drops under the influenceof gravity upon a horizontal swingable carrier plate 05 which issubstantially coextensive with the lower opening in each hopper andprojects beyond opposite sides thereof. In effect the carrier plateconstitutes a movable bottom for the hopper. This plate is reciprocableto and from a position overhanging the bath in the tank immediatelyabove and adjacent the end wall 28. The forward edge of the plate isformed with a downwardly turned pusher flange 61.

In one form of reciprocating mechanism, opposite end portions of eachbatch carrier are provided with pairs of links I0 having pivotalconnections II at their upper ends securing them to the unit frame 34.At their lower ends the links are provided with pivotal connections 12securing them to the carrier plate 65 adjacent the front and rear edgesthereof. are equal in length and are so arranged that the carrier platesuspended thereby is maintained in substantially horizontal positionalthough its level changes slightly in the arcs of swinging movement ofthe lower pivotal connections I2. The lower front wall of the hopper isspaced vertically from the swinging carrier plate 65 to provide anopening 14 through which the batch is fed to the bath I4.

Assuming that the carrier plate 65 is disposed as shown in Fig. 2, withthe batch in the hopper resting thereon, then the forward horizontalmovement of the plate to its broken line position carries with it apredetermined layer of batch of relatively narrow width. Such batch isthus disposed in a position immediately overhanging the surface of themolten bath and the batch in the hopper drops or settles down upon therear portion of the plate behind the batch that has been carriedforward. Bymoving the plate 65 rearwardly, that is by withdrawing itfrom its position above the bath, the layer upon the forward portion ofthe carrier can not be moved backwardly because the space previouslyoccupied by this layer will have been filled. There- These links 4 fore,by withdrawing the plate carrier, the batch layer begins to drop fromthe forward plate edge upon the bath and continues so to drop as theplate moves backwardly until the batch is spread or distributedsubstantially uniformly along an area corresponding in width to thedistance from the forward limit of movement of the' carrier plate to therearward limit of its movement.

The rear wall of each hopper is provided with a lower inclined plateshield I5 and an upper inclined plate shield I6 having pivotal supports18 and I9, respectively, on the hopper along their upper edge portions.The forward edge of the lower plate is bent downwardly and rests infrictional contact upon the upper side of the carrier plate 85. Sincethe rear edge of the shield is freely pivoted, it is maintained inproper scraping contact under the influence of gravity as the carrierplate moves therebeneath. Thus the batch is prevented from escapingrearwardly from the hopper.

In the succeeding forward movement of the plate 65 in its reciprocation,a succeeding layer of batch as prev ously described, will be movedforwardly alongside the first layer after the pusher flange 61 has movedthe first layer forwardly upon the bath. This action is repeated at therate desired and in such manner that the two feeder units 34 provideblanket sections 00 and 8|, which combine to form an over-all blanket 82of batch of uniform thickness. One feeder unit deposits a blanketsection upon one sde of the center line 83 of the bath and the otherunit likewise deposits a similar blanket section on the other side ofthis center line. Each blanket section extends almost across one halfthe width of the tank. That is, the doublesection mass of batch, as auniform and continuous batch blanket, covers the surface of the glassbath substantially from one side of the tank to the other. It is to beunderstood that the blanket sections contact each other along thegeneral location of the center line of the bath to form the continuousover-all batch blanket 82 with the central division line hardlydistinguishable.

Connecting rods 85 having pivotal connections 86 securing the front endsthereof to downwardly turned flanges 01 of the swinging plates 05extending rearwardly and are provided with pivotal connections, such ascrank-pins 89 (Fig. 1). securing their rear ends to crank disks 90 thatare rigidly carried upon horizontal shafts 0|. Depending brackets 92rigidly secured to the unit frames 34 rotatably support the shafts 9|.Motor units 94 and 95 rigidly mounted on the respective frames 34 areprovided with conventional gearing 96 connecting them in drivingrelation to the shafts 9| for rotating the latter. It is customary toinclude reduction gearing (not shown) in motor units of this kindbecause electric motors operate at relatively high speed, whereas, thefeeding strokes of the carrier plates 65 are relatively slow. The speedof the reciprocating plates is deliberate and substantially free fromvibratory action.

Further control of the motors is maintained by means of rheostats 91 and98 in the electric circuits I00 and IN, diagrammatically illustrated inFig. 1. Electric supply lines I02 provide power for the motors andswitches I03 and I04 control the operation of the motors. By closing theswitch I03 and leaving the other switch I04 open, the motor 95 aloneoperates. Likewise by closing the switch I04 with the switch I03 open,the other motor 94 can be operated separately. However, ordinarily bothmotors operate concurrently and during their operation, the rheostatscan be manipulated to synchronize the motors to the same speed or onemotor can be operated at faster feeding rate than the other withoutinterfering with the feeding operations.

In operating tanks of the type described herein, it is inevitable thatone side of the tank will 6, each other as a unit upon the oppositesides oi said center line, said batch depositing means of the respectivedevices traversing in combined be at least slightly different intemperature from the opposite side and it has been observed that thebatch on the molten bath tends to drift to ward the cooler side. Bysetting the feeder units upon their vertical axes in such position thatthe direction of feeding of each converges toward the center line 83 ofthe tank, the blanket sections tend to converge slightly as they are fedalong the molten bath. Such converging direction of feeding overcomesthe tendency of the blankets to drift. If the tendency is accentuatedfor any reason, one of the motors can be operated to feed the batchfaster on one side than on the other.

It is also to be understood that the two feeder units can be positionedin such relation that their directions of feeding are substantiallyparallel, as illustrated in broken lines iii! of Fig. 3. When there isany tendency of the batch blanket to drift laterally, the speed of themotor at the side toward which the drift occurs can be increasedslightly in order that the blanket section on such side is caused totravel somewhat faster than the other blanket section. Such actioncounteracts the tendency to drift and maintains the blanket as a wholecentrally oi' the tank.

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described indetail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that theinvention is not so limited, but that various changes can be madetherein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from theity of the tank and along opposite sides of the longitudinal center lineof said tank to deposit two blanket sections of batch in contact withand substantially continuous width the width of the tank at itsentrance, substantially vertically disposed bearing means supportingsaid devices about vertical axes in angularly adjustable relation withrespect to the direction of the feeding actions thereof and with respectto the angular relation between the directions of feeding and thehorizontal center line of the tank, and variable speed control meansconnected to each batch depositing means to control movement of thecombined batch sections as a unit along the molten glass bath.

2. In a batch laying apparatus for supplying granular glass makingmaterial upon a molten glass bath and including a tank for containingthe molten glass bath, said tank having a batch receiving entrance atone extremity extending substantially across the width of the tank, apair of batch laying devices disposed in side-byside relation and havingfeeding mechanisms facing into one extremity of the tank and defining adouble feeding zone traversing substantially the entire width of thetank at its entrance for feeding two blanket sections of batch upon theopposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the tank, framestructure supporting each batch laying device together with its feedingmechanism, and bearings having vertical axes and carrying the respectivebatch laying devices in angularly adjustable relation about saidvertical axes to direct the blanket sections of batch in selectiveangular relation upon the molten bath.

WILBUR I GAUNDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED s'ra'rns ra'ra'nrs Number Name Date 790,332 Turner -1 May 23,1905 1,822,705 Mambourg Sept. 8, 1931 1,906,695 Lufkin May 2, 19331,916,262 Good July 4, 1933 1,928,016 Halbach et a1. Sept. 26, 19331,941,897 Heller Jan. 2, 1934 1,953,221 Good Apr. 31, 1934 2,246,375Lyle June 17 1941 2,281,050 Redshaw Apr. 28, 1942 2,293,860 Sloan Aug.25, 1942 2,327,887 Halbach et a1. A118. 24, 1943

